Republicans have spent years in Washington
obstructing, opposing, derailing and distracting.
Polls now show them winning the Senate.

Conservatives want to privatize Social Security,
slash education and give corporate tax breaks,
while fighting the minimum wage, both control,
carbon regulation and immigration reform.
Now they are predicted to gain more seats.

Tea Party candidates deny evolution,
refute climate change, vilify Muslims,
belittle rape, and argue corporations are people.
If the election were today, they’d be in charge.

Politicians can say frightening things
and ome of these pols are downright scary.
But the latest polls are even scarier.

If you need a drink, you’re not alone —
discuss, debate, despair and dig in
at your local progressive social club.

On the eve of September 11th, the President outlined
an intense military escalation in the Middle East
without clear rationale or achievable goals,
without full public debate or Congressional approval.

The devastating attack 13 years ago led us
onto a mad dash into a war in the wrong country,
compromising entanglements and costly quagmires,
all real threats of Obama's ISIS operation.

The candidate who opposed the "wrong war"
became a Senator, then President,
who may now lead us into the country
we elected him to help get us out of.

In the Senate, the GOP defends money in politics.
On the campaign trail, Tea Party rhetoric heats up.
Today, a date we honored with civility, calm and unity,
is now a day of divisive, distracting business as usual.

Thirteen years ago, we were shocked
and in the aftermath we said, we'd never forget.
Today's politics seem that "never forget" is forgotten
as are the lessons of what followed that day.

Our thoughts with those who lost loved ones that day,
and our prayers for peace here and abroad
as we join new friends and old to share a night
at our local progressive social club.

As the Obama administration escalates military actions,
it would do well to reread a history book
on what quagmires did to LBJ's domestic agenda.

As the GOP presses a midterm election agenda
that's anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-diversity,
they might want a math lesson on what this approach
will do to their long-term electoral hopes.

As the Justice Department scrutinizes Ferguson,
police forces everywhere should brush up on civics,
remembering what it means to "serve and protect"
and to treat all citizens equal in the eyes of the law.

The US escalates action against ISIS
with the threat of plunging into another war,
but we are more likely to hear about ice buckets
and who has plunged themselves to fight ALS.

We are already tuning out the violence in Gaza,
weary of ceasefires and wary of solutions,
but tune in to one senseless, sensational video
of an uzi accident that takes one life and ruins others.

The mourning continues in Ferguson and elsewhere,
some Senators discuss de-militarizing police,
but few people really believe anything will change
and we wait to hear of the next case of lethal force.

All these topics deserve our attention --
but it's harder to focus on big issues that YouTube videos.
We need ice water dumped on our collective heads
to shock us into paying attention to the larger world.

In the meantime, how about an icy beer,
chill company and cool conversation
at your local progressive social club.